Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 351
** ** ** ** Supporting Characters: * * * Villains: * Other Characters: * ** * * "Entity" (A mysterious alien presence on the plane) * * * * * (The scientist claiming that he can depower mutants) * * (Mentioned as a "hot redheaded babe" to whom Kevin Plunder sends cargo) * Mother of Mercy Hospital staff ** Dr. Gibbons (Chief of staff) ** (Medical intern, prospective surgeon) ** (Anesthesiologist) ** Wallace (Surgeon) ** Nancy (Assistant surgeon) ** Luis (Colleague of Cecilia, position unknown) ** Lilly (An old friend of Cecilia, position unknown) ** Dr. Loran (An old enemy of Cecilia, position unknown) * Passengers on a plain. ** ** * Carter family. ** Mrs. Carter (De facto spokesperson of the family) ** Mr. Carter ** Unnamed Carter (Surgery patient, the only son of the family) ** Three unnamed family members, two males and one female. * Ms. Taylor (Patient at the hospital) * Mrs. DeAgostino (Wife of a patient, constantly demanding euthanasia) * Mr. DeAgostino (Patient, husband of Mrs. DeAgostino) * Miss Robinski (Victim of domestic violence) Races and Species: * * * Locations: * ** *** **** ***** **** ***** ****** (Nicknamed "O-Mom" by its staff) ***** ****** *** **** ** Items: * Vehicles: * Wolverine's motorcycle. * Airplane flying over Canada. | Notes = *The story involves the passage of time in a single day. Most scenes and several single panels depict the time through the image of a digital clock and its digits. The summary above includes some, but not all displays of time. Though some scenes are unrelated to the others, they are all linear. The story begins with Dr. Cecilia Reyes waking up at 5:02 AM and ends with her falling asleep at 8:18 PM (20:18). Altogether, the story lasts for 15 hours and 16 minutes. *This is actually the first depiction of Dr. Cecilia Reyes, a new member of the X-Men, in an issue of Uncanny X-Men Vol 1. She had debuted in X-Men Vol 2 65 (June, 1997). All her appearances before Uncanny X-Men #351 were in issues of X-Men Vol 2, where she was a regular cast member during the Operation:Zero Tolerance event. *The issue serves as a spotlight issue for Dr. Cecilia Reyes, still a new character at the time of publication. It is mostly devoted to her characterization, to her interactions with co-workers at a hospital and with patients, to her attempt and failure to resume her medical career after being outed as a mutant, and to her reluctance at being an X-Man or a heroine. There are no combat scenes, and the main action scenes are provided by a constantly aflame Pyro. The cover is misleading, as it depicts her being attacked by Pyro. *The scene where Dr. Cecilia Reyes interacts with her patient Daredevil is expanded with additional details in Daredevil Vol 1 371 (January, 1998). *The story mentions a few times the recent return of the heroes. The reference is to most of the heroic characters considered deceased following their "deaths" in Onslaught Marvel Universe Vol 1 1 (October, 1996). They were actually transferred to Counter-Earth for a while. They returned to Earth in the Heroes Reborn: The Return Vol 1 mini-series of late 1997. Daredevil was not among the dying or returning heroes. *This issue includes a subplot where former X-Men Cyclops and Phoenix are heading to Anchorage for settlement. This largely derives from the Operation:Zero Tolerance event, when Cyclops almost died due to Bastion having a nano-bomb surgically implanted into Scott’s lower abdomen. He survived but with health problems. He and Jean decided to leave the team in X-Men Vol 2 71 (January, 1998). *While Cyclops and Phoenix are no longer officially X-Men, they are not actually written out of the X-books. Their storyline of their supposed retirement is Alaska is followed by several later issues and lasts for quite a while. They also eventually start flying out of Alaska to join the X-Men in various missions. This period of the characters ends with X-Men Vol 2 97 (February, 2000), when Scott temporarily merges with Apocalypse. He was thought dead for a while, eventually recovered his individuality, but never returned to Anchorage. Jean also left Anchorage following his "death", to become a full-time member of the X-Men. *The being which Jean Grey senses on the airplane is the so-called "Entity", an alien presence fully depicted in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 352 (February, 1998). It only appears in these two issues. *The green-skinned being send from Kevin Plunder to Shanna O'Hara and escaping in New York City is eventually revealed to be Sauron. This issue marks his return. That Sauron is alive was somewhat surprising at the publication time of the issue. His previous appearance in Ka-Zar of the Savage Land Vol 1 1 (February, 1997) involved his supposed death in an explosion. His survival has never been properly explained. *The character mentioned as Kevin Plunder in this issue is also known as Ka-Zar. He is actually the second Marvel character of that codename, following David Rand. *The woman mentioned in this issue as the "hot redheaded babe" is Shanna O'Hara, wife of Kevin Plunder. While she has been depicted as an attractive female character for decades, her description as a redhead might be a mistake. While depicted with red or reddish hair in the covers of her original series Shanna, The She-Devil Vol 1 (1972-1973), Shanna was later depicted as a blonde. *The subplot about a scientist who promises to take away mutant genes and depower mutants, is the earliest known mention of Aubrey Agee. He would debut in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 353 (March, 1998) and his storyline followed for several issues. *The Marvel Chronology Project, which covers character appearances, has the following information to offer on the characters of the issue: **Cyclops appears here immediately following X-Men Vol 2 71 (January, 1998). He next appears in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 352 (February, 1998). **Daredevil appears here following Daredevil Vol 1 370 (December, 1997). His next chronological appearances are (in order) Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 429 (December, 1997) and Daredevil Vol 1 371 (January, 1998). **Phoenix appears here immediately following X-Men Vol 2 71 (January, 1998). She next appears in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 352 (February, 1998). **Pyro appears here following X-Factor Vol 1 130 (January, 1997). His next chronological appearance is in Quicksilver Vol 1 6 (April, 1998). *Dr. Cecilia Reyes' previous chronological appearance is in the first 20 pages of X-Men Vol 2 71 (January, 1998). There is a break between pages 20 and 21 from issue #351, where her scenes from Daredevil Vol 1 371 (January, 1998) fit. She next appears in pages 21-22 of X-Men Vol 2 71, and then in X-Men Vol 2 72 (February, 1998). **Sauron's previous chronological appearances were a full appearance in Ka-Zar of the Savage Land Vol 1 1 (February, 1997) and a flashback in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). His next chronological appearances is another flashback in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 and a full appearance in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 353 (March, 1998). *Storm initial appearance in this issue follows pages 1 to 20 of X-Men Vol 2 71 (January, 1998). She then appears in pages 21-22 of X-Men Vol 2 71, then comes her appearance at the finale of Uncanny X-Men #351. Her next chronological appearance is in X-Men Vol 2 72 (February, 1998). *Wolverine appears here following the first 20 pages of X-Men Vol 2 72 (February, 1998). His next chronological appearance is in in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 352 (February, 1998). | Trivia = *This is the second issue of Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 which credits Steven T. Seagle as its main writer. The previous one was Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 350 (December, 1997), where departing writer Scott Lobdell served as an uncredited co-plotter. This means this is the first issue where Seagle is writing his own plot. *The guest artist for the issue is José Edilbenes Bezerra ("Ed Benes"). He was employed by Marvel Comics at the time, at the start of his career in mainstream American comics. Despite the already high quality of his art, Marvel only ever used him as a guest artist in a hand full of series or had him co-working with other artists. He was later hired by DC Comics and went on to become one of its high-profile artists, with long runs in major series. *At the time of publication Dr. Cecilia Reyes was one of three new members of the X-Men. The others were Marrow and Maggott. Their powers were already established before they joined the ranks, but much of their characterization had yet to be established. Marrow was a former member of the Morlocks and technically knew the X-Men for years, though she did not have particularly friendly relationships with the team. Her characterization involved vocal criticism of the team and perpetual anger at the world. Maggott was a mysterious fellow who was just getting to know the team, and vice versa. Cecilia's role with the team had yet to be determined. She was a closeted mutant with a medical career who only got involved with the team once her secret was outed and her own life was threatened. She was at best an unenthusiastic recruit to the team, and at worst abrasive and mean-spirited in her interactions with others. This spotlight issue was clearly an attempt to flesh out the character, to humanize her, and to let readers see things from her perspective. *The depiction of the Mother of Mercy Hospital is a somewhat unusual depiction of a Marvel Universe hospital. It mixes real medical situations and workplace relationships with the clear presence of anti-mutant prejudice, the threat of super-villain and Sentinels attacks, and even superheroes and super-villains visiting the hospital as patients to seek treatment for their injuries. *The issue emphasizes that Dr. Cecilia Reyes is a member of multiple minorities. She is a Homo superior (mutant) in a working environment full of Homo sapiens members, she is a Puerto Rican person (of African descent) in a workplace mostly filled with with white doctors (of European descent), she is a woman in a male-dominated working environment and career. She is used to facing prejudice on multiple fronts. *Many of the major and minor scenes of the issue serve to portray Dr. Cecilia Reyes as a hard-working woman. Within a single day, Cecilia deals with almost a dozen patients demanding various kinds of treatment. Surgeries on life-threatening wounds, cleaning out less serious wounds, medical advice to various patients, and the ever-present paperwork, all in a single day's work. Cecilia faces it all with confidence, decisiveness, occasional improvisation, and even impatience. She always seems to be in a hurry. *The role of Storm, Wolverine, and Daredevil in this issue is to try and convince Dr. Cecilia Reyes that she can do more good as a hero than as a doctor. Daredevil also argues that being a super-powered individual makes her more special, since they are a lot rarer than doctors. Something of a peculiar argument for Earth-616, which at this point seemed to have an ever-growing population of super-powered individuals of various origins. *As with many of his appearances in the 1990s, Pyro is portrayed as a very ill man. Due to suffering from the Legacy Virus, his fire-related powers are frequently out of control, he coughs when he speaks, and he is constantly in pain. He seems to be at death's door in almost every appearance of the period, though the writers always avoided outright killing him. As a relatively high-profile opponent of the X-Men and related teams, Pyro was easily among the most notable victims of the Virus. He was always useful in storylines portraying the virus' effects or where various solutions to the virus were sought out. Curiously in this issue, Pyro objects to being a "guinea pig" for researchers. | Recommended = | Links = * plot summary at uncannyxmen.net }}